1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400

1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400
Race details[1]
Race 15 of 31 in the 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Layout of Riverside International Raceway
Date June 8, 1980 (1980-June-08)
Official name Warner W. Hodgdon 400
Location Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.700 mi (4.345 km)
Distance 119 laps, 211.8 mi (401.7 km)
Weather Hot with temperatures approaching 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)
Average speed 101.846 miles per hour (163.905 km/h)
Attendance 18,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Junior Johnson
Most laps led
Driver Darrell Waltrip/Bobby Allison
(tied)		 DiGard/Bud Moore
Laps 23
Winner
No. 88 Darrell Waltrip DiGard
Television in the United States
Network Untelevised
Announcers None

The 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on June 8, 1980, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day. Road courses were one of the more attractive features for NASCAR during the 1980 Winston Cup Series season. NASCAR would develop a liking for mile and a half tracks by the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

Summary

Darrell Waltrip would beat Neil Bonnett by less than half a second in front of 18000 fans in attendance.[2] There were 18 different changes in the first-place position while there would be five different caution periods for 15 laps.[2][3] Cale Yarborough would qualify for the pole position with a qualifying speed of 113.792 miles per hour (183.130 km/h) while the average speed of the race would be 101.846 miles per hour (163.905 km/h).[2][3] Cecil Gordon would earn his last top-ten finish at this race.[2] Other famous drivers who raced here included: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, and Richard Childress (now the owner of Richard Childress Racing).[2][3]

D.K. Ulrich would finish last in the race due to an engine issue on the pace laps of this 95-lap race.[2][4] He would make $1,000 just for qualifying ($2,876.82 when adjusted for inflation) while Waltrip went home with an extra $22,100 in his bank account ($63,577.67 when adjusted for inflation).[2][4][5]

The race was named after famous race team owner/sponsor, owner of 12 race tracks, local city redeveloper, and philanthropist Warner Hodgdon.

Roy Smith was the only Canadian to appear in a 36-driver grid of mostly American-born competitors.[2] He would drive for NASCAR team owner Robert Beadle.[2] Don Waterman would make his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut at this race.[3] The only driver who failed to qualify for the race was Gene Thoensen; an independent driver who was the driver of the unsponsored No. 77 machine.[2]

Top twenty finishers

  1. Darrell Waltrip (No. 88)
  2. Neil Bonnett (No. 21)
  3. Benny Parsons (No. 27)
  4. Cale Yarborough (No. 11)
  5. Dale Earnhardt (No. 2)
  6. Dave Marcis (No. 71), 1 lap down
  7. Harry Gant (No. 75), 1 lap down
  8. Richard Petty (No. 43), 2 laps down
  9. J.D. McDuffie (No. 70), 2 laps down
  10. Cecil Gordon (No. 24), 2 laps down
  11. Jody Ridley (No. 90), 3 laps down
  12. James Hylton (No. 48), 3 laps down
  13. Bill Schmitt (No. 73), 3 laps down
  14. Buddy Arrington (No. 67), 3 laps down
  15. Bobby Allison (No. 15), 4 laps down
  16. Ronnie Thomas (No. 25), 4 laps down
  17. Don Puskarich (No. 13), 5 laps down
  18. Richard Childress (No. 3), 6 laps down
  19. Joe Booher (No. 79), 12 laps down
  20. Jim Robinson (No. 78), 13 laps down

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Dale Earnhardt 2255 0
2 Richard Petty 2219 -36
3 Cale Yarborough 2174 -81
4 Darrell Waltrip 2159 -96
5 Bobby Allison 2027 -228
6 Benny Parsons 2009 -246
7 Jody Ridley 1908 -347
8 Harry Gant 1861 -394
9 Dave Marcis 1842 -413
10 Richard Childress 1791 -464

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Racing-Reference.info
  3. 1 2 3 4 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at Race-Database.com
  4. 1 2 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 racing information at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
  5. ↑ 1980 Warner W. Hodgdon 400 race information at DriverAverages.com
Preceded by
1980 NASCAR 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1980 		Succeeded by
1980 Gabriel 400
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